US Pat. Pub. 20040039661 (hereby incorporated by reference), US Pat. Pub. 20020079367 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,998 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,497 ((hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,185 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,940 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 6,980,999 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,809 (hereby incorporated by reference), U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,712 (hereby incorporated by reference), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,221 (hereby incorporated by reference) disclose various systems for making decisions, recording information, and managing transactions.
There are several known methods of monitoring health based upon food intake or diet. With these methods, the amount of calories is attempted to be reduced over time. Typically, attempting to lower the consumption of calories is thought to lower weight. Some diets pay attention to food, food types, and food groups consumed, and the benefit certain food groups and their contents have over other food groups. An additional concern for some diets is the amount of certain food groups such as protein, carbohydrate, or fats in relation to each other. For example, often fats are seen as less desirable because they contain more energy and may have twice as many calories as carbohydrates. In addition, it is also desirable to maintain the weight loss over extended periods of time.
In the field of dieting, there are several methods that attempt to optimize the amount of weight loss without compromising the long term health, energy level, or mood. Most diet programs are directed towards weight reduction which is accomplished by seeking to reduce the amount of calories the dieter consumes. Also, many diets seek to reduce the amount of calories without changing the amount of food the dieter eats. However, these diets may require special foods that incur additional expense, time, and change to the dieters routine. One of the most effective routines for changing a person's behavior is making them record their decisions and write down their options before making their next decision. Still, many dieters struggle with compliance and as a result their ability to stay on a diet and report information accurately is frequently proportional. Food has important benefits, but because it is difficult to track systematically effect of many important foods, more powerful medicines are used instead.
None of the methods in the prior art employ a systematic approach to determine a dieter's goals based on an accurate measurement of the food they are currently consuming and changing the amount of foods they are actually purchasing for consumption. None of the previous methods take advantage of tracking a person's consumption and eating habits can provide a vital perspective to a person's nutritional health and diet decisions. By changing the decisions they make to purchase and consume food before the food is purchased or consumed. Additionally, this health improvement and diet monitor system is able to accurately measure the foods actually consumed and provide better diet management based on this accurate and easily accessible information.